Mapping software, such as online mapping software, can allow a user to virtually navigate through a realistically-captured landscape. For example, a vehicle equipped with one or more cameras can typically drive through a landscape, such as various streets and roads, and capture images along the landscape. These images can then formulate the basis through which mapping software can enable a user to virtually navigate along the images that have been captured along the landscape. This can provide the user with a realistic experience such as if the user were to walk or drive along the landscape.
As mapping software has evolved, so too has the sophistication with which images are captured and subsequently rendered for a user. For example, various providers such as the assignee of this application now provide 360° panoramic views, known as “bubbles,” of various landscapes such as streets and roads. Users can, using suitably configured mapping software, navigate along such landscapes and be exposed to a very realistic 360° experience.
One of the challenges facing providers of this type of experience has to do with constraints associated with capturing images along various streets and roads. Specifically, due to time or capture conditions, some turns at various intersections may not have been captured. Yet, a user may wish to navigate along a turn for which images have not been specifically captured. For example, assume at a particular intersection that images have been captured along two runs. A first of the captured runs extends from south to north, and a second of the runs extends from west to south. The user may, however, wish to navigate from west to north. Because this run has not been specifically captured, some type of transition between captured runs should occur. Using a naïve approach, such as simply jumping between capture points on the different runs, can lead to a discontinuous and unrealistic transition and hence, an undesirable user experience.